01 February 2010 10:00

EVERTON skipper Phil Neville today backed Tim Cahill to continue his goal-scoring streak now he is back in his most potent position.

The Toffees captain believes Cahill has sacrificed his personal form for the sake of the team during the club's slow start to the season, often playing out of position due to injuries.

But after Cahill scored a trademark header for the second game in the row to seal victory over Wigan, Neville predicts the Aussie won't look back.

He said: 'Tim's a top player and his infectiousness around the place is second to none. With players coming back and the team playing a little bit better, it's given Tim more energy and more spark and he can concentrate on what he does best and that's scoring.

'Everyone knows when we were going through the bad run and we had players injured, he was playing deep midfield, right midfield, left midfield, anything but his best position and he just go on with it.

'Now he's back in his best position and him and Louis look like they're a potent partnership.'

Neville, who helped the Blues keep a clean sheet for the second time in as many games, feels the FA Cup defeat by Birmingham City taught the Everton players a few home truths.

He said: 'The Birmingham game knocked the stuffing out of us because nobody saw that coming at all.

'I think it was maybe the kick up the backside we needed because we thought we possibly just had to turn up for that game.

'Particularly after the Man City game the week before when we won a lot of plaudits, but football has a real habit of kicking you in the teeth.

'The Birmingham game reminded us we are not quite there yet, and we're still not but we're going in the right direction. We've got Mikel back, we've got Jags nearly back which will be a massive boost because he's training on Monday. Looking into March April and May we have nothing to fear.'